For upper-middle-class households, choosing the right retirement community in Florida requires more than dreams of warm weather and good intentions. It demands careful number-crunching.
In addition to affordability for upper-middle-class incomes, prospective residents may want to consider factors such as livability scores, percentages of the population age 65 and up, and average home values. A GOBankingRates study weighed all of these data points and produced a list of best bets.
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Florida may be almost synonymous with retirement in many minds, but the study shows significant variances — even between the 14 locales that made the list. Here are a few key findings from the analysis, followed by a closer look at the top-ranked towns.
Key Findings
- Coconut Creek, a city of about 58,000 located 30 minutes north of Fort Lauderdale, ranks No. 1. Coconut Creek offers a solid livability score (83) and one of the lowest comfortable cost-of-living thresholds on the list at $121,656.
- Royal Palm Beach and Delray Beach also fall below the $127,000 comfort threshold while maintaining livability scores at or around 80.
- Estero and Naples have some of the highest senior populations — 50.7% and 56.2%, respectively.
- Naples is the most expensive town in the top 10, with a comfortable cost of living of $142,835 and an average home value of $694,304.
- South Florida, a region generally defined as including Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward counties, dominates the list.
Here’s a city-by-city breakdown.
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1. Coconut Creek, Florida
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $121,656
- Percentage of population 65-plus: 19.3%
- Livability score: 83
- Average home value: $524,251
- Average monthly mortgage: $3,023
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2. Royal Palm Beach, Florida
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $121,015
- Percentage of population 65-plus: 17.8%
- Livability score: 79
- Average home value: $516,569
- Average monthly mortgage: $2,978
3. Delray Beach, Florida
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $126,281
- Percentage of population 65-plus: 28%
- Livability score: 80
- Average home value: $559,989
- Average monthly mortgage: $3,229
4. Estero, Florida
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $132,678
- Percentage of population 65-plus: 50.7%
- Livability score: 79
- Average home value: $598,990
- Average monthly mortgage: $3,454
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5. Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $129,390
- Percentage of population 65-plus: 19.6%
- Livability score: 81
- Average home value: $580,145
- Average monthly mortgage: $3,345
6. Pembroke Pines, Florida
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $132,944
- Percentage of population 65-plus: 19.5%
- Livability score: 82
- Average home value: $600,647
- Average monthly mortgage: $3,463
7. Naples, Florida
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $142,835
- Percentage of population 65-plus: 56.2%
- Livability score: 79
- Average home value: $694,304
- Average monthly mortgage: $4,003
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8. Hialeah, Florida
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $129,324
- Percentage of population 65-plus: 20.4%
- Livability score: 73
- Average home value: $569,073
- Average monthly mortgage: $3,281
9. Bonita Springs, Florida
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $131,780
- Percentage of population 65-plus: 42.9%
- Livability score: 70
- Average home value: $599,775
- Average monthly mortgage: $3,458
10. Aventura, Florida
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $141,445
- Percentage of population 65-plus: 26.3%
- Livability score: 79
- Average home value: $655,043
- Average monthly mortgage: $3,777
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11. Boca Raton, Florida
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $147,959
- Percentage of population 65-plus: 24.7%
- Livability score: 79
- Average home value: $715,495
- Average monthly mortgage: $4,125
12. Wellington, Florida
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $142,463
- Percentage of population 65-plus: 17.4%
- Livability score: 73
- Average home value: $668,811
- Average monthly mortgage: $3,856
13. Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $152,543
- Percentage of population 65-plus: 30.6%
- Livability score: 70
- Average home value: $750,329
- Average monthly mortgage: $4,326
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14. Jupiter, Florida
- Annual cost of living comfortably: $154,773
- Percentage of population 65-plus: 23.8%
- Livability score: 70
- Average home value: $764,770
- Average monthly mortgage: $4,409
Photo disclaimer: Please note photos are for representational purposes only. As a result, some of the photos might not reflect the exact locations listed in this article.
Methodology: For this study, GOBankingRates analyzed retirement towns from across the United States to find the best places for the upper middle class. Retirement towns are places with greater than the national average percentage of the population ages 65 and over, currently at 16.8%. Middle class is defined by Pew Research Center as two-thirds to double the median household income ($51,813 to $155,438). To find the upper-middle class, the middle-class income range is broken into thirds, with the upper third being the upper-middle class ($120,896 to $155,438). With the cities identified using data from the U.S. Census American Community Survey, the cost-of-living indexes were sourced from Sperling’s BestPlaces for each location. Using the cost-of-living indexes along with the national average expenditure costs for retirees, as sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey for Retired Consumer Units, the average expenditure cost for each location was calculated. The average home value was sourced from Zillow Home Value Index. Assuming a 10% down payment and using the national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 6.63%, sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Data on Aug. 13, the average mortgage cost was calculated for each location. Using the average mortgage and expenditure costs, the total cost of living was calculated. Using the 50/30/20 finance rule that says that needs should not exceed 50% of household income, the total cost of living for necessities was doubled to find the comfortable cost of living. The locations with a comfortable cost of living within the upper-middle-class income range were kept. The livability index was sourced from AreaVibes and used to determine the overall quality of life. Using the remaining retirement towns, the percentage of the population age 65 and over was scored and weighted at 0.5, the total cost of living for necessities was scored and weighed at 1, and the livability index was scored and weighted at 1.5. All scores were summed and sorted to find the best retirement towns for the upper-middle class. All data was collected on and is up to date as of Aug. 13, 2025.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: 14 Best Florida Retirement Towns for the Upper-Middle Class
